Knitting-machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. ESTY.

KNITTING MACHINE. No. 371,567. Patented Oct. 18 1887.

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KNITTING MACHINE. No. 371,567. Y Patented Oct. 18, 1887.

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WILLIAM ESTY, OF LAOONIA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

KNITTING- MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part oi Letters Patent No. 371,567, dated Gotcha: 18,1887.

Application filed July 20, 1887. Serial No. 144,808.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM EsTY, of Laconia, in the county of Belknap and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knitting-Machines, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

Hy invention relates to knitting-machines; and it consists, first, in the combination, with theneedles of a straight-knitting machine and the needle-operating cam-bar, of a series of stationary hooked sinkers, cams constructed and arranged to first depress and then immediately raise the hooked ends of the needles to place the fabric beneath the books of the sinkers as said needles are moved endwise by their actuatingcams to form the loops, and means for actuating the lowering and raising cams from the needle cam-bar, with a certain amount of play or lost motion to cause the said cams to properly, follow the needle-actuating cams in the actuation of the needles, all so constructed and arranged that the least possible number of needles will be depressed at the same time, whereby the work will be more firmly held than when a greater number of needles are depressed and held down a longer time.

My invention consists, secondly, in an improved and simple means for holding the sinkers and securing them firmly in place, and whereby provision is made for the convenient and ready removal of any or all of the sinkers, and for the adjustment of the latter relatively to the needles.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a plan of so much of a machine having my invention applied thereto as is necessary for the proper understanding of the invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same, the cuttingplane being on line y y on Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line a: an on Figs. 1 and 2, looking toward the right of said figures. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the inner side of the sinker-plate. Fig. 5 is an elevation of one of the sliding-block bearings for supporting the sinker-lockingslide. Fig. 6 is asection through aportion of the parts on line zz on Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is an elevation of one of the sinkers detached from the machine. Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively an elevation and vertical section (No model.)

illustrating a modification of the cam-bars for throwing down the hooked ends of the needles, and Fig. 10 is an elevation of a portion of the ends of the needle-bending cam-bars opposite to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

A is the needlebed, which may be of any usual or suitable construction, save that the transverse grooves therein for the reception of the needles are made somewhat deeper than usual to permit of the depression of the hooked ends of the needles, in the manner which will be hereinafter described.

B is the needle cam-bar fitted to slide on the guide-bars D and D, and having secured thereto the needle-actuating cams G, said camloar having a reciprocating movement imparted thereto through the medium of the rod B, in any usual and desired manner. To the cambar B is attached the yarn guide or carrier 0.

E designates the needles,and F a cap placed at the front of the needle-bed and serving to keep the forward ends of the needles from rising out of the grooves therefor in the needlebed. This cap is secured by screws F to the needle-bed A, so as to provide for its ready removal. The front of the needle-bed is formed with or has attached thereto a rearwardly-inclined downward extension, H, the forward face of which is formed with a ledge, H, and groove H as shown. To the front of the ledge H a sinker-plate, J, is removably secured by means of screws J, this plate being formed with rearward projections J J and J, (see Fig. 4,) the lower edges of which rest upon the top of the ledge H, as shown in Fig. 3. The central projection, J of the sinkerplate J is grooved, as shown in Fig. 4, for the reception of the sinkers I, the blades of which are notched, as at b, for the reception of a tongue or rib, c, on a slide, H, which is fitted within the groove H but so as to be capable of readily being adjusted vertically to enable the position of the hooks d of the sinkers I to be properly adjusted relatively to the needles.

The slide H passes at its ends through blocks or boxes H H", fitted to move vertically between the projections J and J of the plate J and in corresponding bearings out in the ledge H, and are secured to the extension H by screws 6, passing through slots 6 in the said extension. By loosening the screws 6 the boxes H H and slide H and with the latter ICO the sinkers I, may be moved up or down at will, and then secured in the desired position by again tightening the screws 6. The slide H moves freely through the boxes H H, and the tongue or'rib c thereon is'formed with a tapered end, as shown atfin Fig. 2. By withdrawing the slide endwise the tongue or rib 0 will be withdrawn from the notches of the sinkers, and'any or all of the latter may then be withdrawn from the grooves therefor in the sinker-plate J. The tapered end of the tongue or rib cenables it to pass without obstruction through the notches of the sinkers.

Upon the upper side of the needle-bed, near its front edge, is formed a groove or bearing extending longitudinally thereof, in which is fitted, so as to be movable endwise therein, a bar, N, in position to support the hooked ends of the needles, said bar being provided with the slot g at its end, with which a pin, 9, set in the end of the arm N, secured upon the rod B, engages to move said bar with the needle cam-bar during the greater part of its reciprocation, and above the ends of the needles, within a groove cut in the under side of the cap E, slides a bar, 0. These bars N and O are hinged together at h, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and at the opposite end the bar 0 is provided with a pin or projection, R, sufficient in length to hold it above bar N a distance about equal to the thickness of the needles. The bar N is formed on its upper surface with a curved depression at i, and above this depression, on the bar 0, is formed a correspondingly-curved cam or projection, t", all as shown in Fig. 2.

The construction of the cam for depressing and raising the hooked ends of the needles in two parts, hinged together at one end and kept the proper distance apart at their other ends by a stop-pin or lug, as described, is for the purpose of facilitating the removal of the needles, as when the needle-operating cam-bar Band the cap F are removed the bar 0 can be readily raised or moved about its pivot h, so that any or all of the needles may be removed, and the depression in the bar N and the projection from the bar 0 are so formed thatas said bars reciprocate the needles are depressed by said projection from the bar 0 a certain fixed distance; but as quick as a needle has reached the lowest point to which it is to be depressed the upward curve of the depression in the bar N begins to act upon said needle to raise it to its former level, whereby not more than one or two needles at most are depressed to theirlowest positions at the same time, and the greatest possible number of needles are maintained at all times in their normal position as to the elevation of their hooked ends, thereby much more firmly holding the work than when a large number of needles are depressed at the same time.

At their forward ends the needles rest upon and are sustained by the upper surface of the bar N, being thereby held above the bottoms of the grooves in the needle-bed.

The tongue or rib c on slide H while in engagement with the notches of the sinkers, holds the latter firmly in place; but by withdrawing the said slide endwise the sinkers are freed and may readily be removed.

The sinkers are formed as shown, with inclined faces or portions j, against which the loops are drawn as the needles are moved back by the cams G, these faces being placed at a right angle to theline of movement of the needles.

The slotg and pin for actuating the bars N 0 from the canrbar B and providing for lost motion, may be replaced by any known and equivalent devices which will secure the same result. The amount of play or lost motion is to be such that in whichever direction sion of the hooked end of the needle with the loop thereon below the hooks on the sinkers I just as the drawing-point g is acting to give the final rearward movement to the needle to draw in and close up the newly-formed loop or stitch.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the parts areinthe relative position in which they lie while the cams G and bars N and O are moving toward the lefthand side of the machine, the depression iand projection i being in line with the following cam g.

In operation, as the needles E are successively projected and retracted by the cams G and the yarn is laid in the hooks of the needles by the carrier or guide (J, the cam or proj ection i acts upon the rearwardly-moving needles and depresses the hooked ends thereof with the fabric thereon below the hooks of the sinkers. Then, after the stitches have been completed by the action of the following drawing-point g" of the cams G, the hooked ends of the needles are caused to rise as they move up the side of the depression '5 in bar N, so as to carry the yarn of the newly-formed course of loops under and within the books of the sink ers.

I may replace the cam or projection 11 of the bar 0 (shown in Fig. 2) by a roller, 13, pivoted to the said bar, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

My means of securing the sinkers in place enables me to wholly dispense with the use of solder.

The construction herein shown enables me to avoid having to raise and lower the hooked sinkers to cause them to properly engage with the fabric being knitted, as in previous machines. There is no dangerof the stationary sinkers improperly engaging or interfering with the yarn as it is being fed to the needles.

Having described my invention, I clai m 1. The combination, with the needles and the needle-operating cam-bar, of a series of IIO stationary hooked sinkers, cams for lowering and raising the hooked ends of the needles as they are moved by the needle-operating cams to form the loops, said cams being constructed and arranged to depress said needles a given distance and immediately raise them again without holding them in said depressed position, and means having provision for lost motion for operating the said needle lowering and raising cams from the needle eam'bar, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the needles and the needle-operating cam-bar, of a series of stationary hooked sinkers, the bars N and O, pivoted together, as set forth, the pin or projection R, and means having provisions for lost motion for operating the said bars from the needle cam-bar, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a sustaining-bar, a sinker-plate grooved for the reception of sinkers, and a series of sinkers fitted to the grooves of the sinker-plate, and having shoulders or holding-surfaces formed upon their shanks, ofa locking-bar provided with shoulders or holding-surfaces constructed and arranged to engage with the shoulders on all of said sinkers to lock them in position and adapted to be withdrawn to permit the removal of one or all of said sinkers.

4. The combination, with a sustaining-bar, the grooved sinker-plate, and the sinkers pro vided with locking-shoulders, of a lockingbar provided with shoulders or holding-surfaces construeted and arranged to engage with the shoulders on all of said sinkers, and lock them all at the same height, and means for adjusting said bar in the direction of the length of said sinkers to regulate the height of said sinkers relative to the needles, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 14th day of July, A. D. 1887.

WILLIAM ES'IY. Witnesses:

N. O. LOMBARD, W'ALTER E. LOMBARD. 

